MLB'S NEWEST NEGOTIATOR TAKES OVER; STEINBRENNER CRITICIZED

MLB's new labor negotiator, Randy Levine, will oversee his
first negotiating committee meeting today, according to Hal
Bodley of USA TODAY. Acting MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said
today's session is "expected to set to tone for stepped-up
negotiations to begin soon." Levine was appointed on September
19, but his role as MLB owners' chief negotiator began officially
Monday (USA TODAY, 10/25).
THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE: Yankees Owner George
Steinbrenner's "media manipulation" during the World Series is
criticized by Harvey Araton of the N.Y. TIMES. Although MLB
requests that teams do no public business during the Series,
Steinbrenner has remained in the news. Araton: "He is excellent
at the art of news media manipulation and by seizing the World
Series week ... he brazenly assumes lead-story status, pushes the
Series into a corner in the newspapers and on the airwaves. He
steals prominence from his sport." Araton, on the differences
between Steinbrenner's actions and other leagues: "David Stern
stands guard over the NBA product, and if Jerry Jones turned
Super Bowl week into a Dallas Cowboys Nikethon, the NFL would at
least have Paul Tagliabue do something about it. ... Bud Selig is
probably too busy demanding a new stadium in Milwaukee to worry
about conflicts of baseball's long-term interests" (N.Y. TIMES,
10/25). Mario Cuomo, asked if he would want to be MLB
Commissioner: "I can't imagine 28 Steinbrenner's wanting me"
("Larry King Live," CNN, 10/24).